One of Turnbull's candidates has resigned

The Liberal Party's candidate for the federal seat of Fremantle, Sherry Sufi, has resigned from his position in the wake of controversy over past comments he made about same-sex marriage and constitutional recognition.

Mr Sufi, who has also quit as the chair of the WA Liberals' policy committee, said he wanted to avoid causing further distraction for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, ABC online reports.

In February, Mr Sufi told Buzzfeed that recognising Indigenous Australians in the constitution was "a move to divide the country".